Method and Apparatus for EUV Mask Having Diffusion Barrier

ABSTRACT

A photomask is provide. The photomask includes a substrate having a multi-layer stack disposed over the substrate. The multilayer stack has alternating first second and third layers disposed over each other, wherein the first, second and third layers are composed of first, second and third materials, respectively, and wherein at least the second layer is formed through an atomic layer deposition process. A capping layer is disposed over the multilayer stack; and an absorber layer disposed over the capping layer. A method for evaluating materials, unit processes, and process sequences for manufacturing a photomask is also provided.

RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is related to U.S. application Ser. No. ______ (AttyDocket IM0242) filed on the same day as the present application andentitled “PROTECTIVE CAP FOR EXTREME ULTRAVIOLET MASK.”

BACKGROUND

Extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography, which is based upon exposure withthe portion of the electromagnetic spectrum having a wavelength of 10-20nanometers, may be used to print features with smaller criticaldimension (CD) than other more conventional optical techniques, such asthose utilizing deep ultraviolet (DUV) radiation or so-called 193 nmlithography.

The mask utilized for the extreme ultraviolet lithography is asophisticated unit including a Bragg mirror or dielectric minordeposited on a substrate, which is relatively expensive due to the lowtolerances for any defects and high required uniformity of these masks.These masks require frequent cleaning to reduce or eliminate defectsduring the optical lithography operation. The cleaning is typicallyperformed at an elevated temperature to enable and/or enhance theefficiency of the cleaning chemistry. In addition, during use the masksare inadvertedly heated through exposure with extreme ultraviolet light.Thus, the mask is frequently exposed to temperatures above ambientduring the mask's lifecycle and is used at temperatures exceedingambient during normal operation. Consequently, these conditions cancause several types of chemical diffusion and chemical reactions withinthe multilayer stack of the Bragg mirror. For example, surface organicsmay diffuse into the stack. In addition, the reflective and spacerlayers within the stack can start chemically intermixing and reacting attheir interfaces. Over time, the performance degrades for the mask inthe mask will eventually fail due to loss of its carefully optimizedoptical properties.

It is within this context that the current embodiments arise.

SUMMARY

Embodiments of the present invention provide a mask having an extendedlifecycle for a EUV photolithography process, lower defect levels duringits useful lifecycle and a method for evaluating different combinationsof materials, process sequences, and unit processes for manufacturingthe mask blanks. Several inventive embodiments of the present inventionare described below.

In one aspect of the invention, a photomask is provided. The photomaskincludes a substrate, and a multi-layer stack functioning as a Braggmirror deposited over the substrate. The multilayer stack hasalternating first second and third layers deposited over each other,wherein the first, second and third layers are composed of first, secondand third materials, respectively, and wherein at least the second layeris formed through an atomic layer deposition process. A capping layerdeposited over the multilayer stack and an absorber layer deposited overthe capping layer

In another aspect of the invention, a method for evaluating materials,unit processes, and process sequences for manufacturing a photomask isprovided. The method initiates with processing a first substrate havinga pattern of multiple layers representing a Bragg mirror portion of thephotomask. The first substrate is tested for diffusion propertiesbetween the multiple layers. Regions on a second substrate are processedin a combinatorial manner by varying one of materials, unit processes orprocess sequences based on results from the testing of the firstsubstrate. The regions on the second substrate represent a barrier layerdeposited over one of the multiple layers. The processed regions on thesecond substrate are tested for optical properties

Other aspects of the invention will become apparent from the followingdetailed description, taken in conjunction with the accompanyingdrawings, illustrating by way of example the principles of theinvention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present invention will be readily understood by the followingdetailed description in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. Likereference numerals designate like structural elements.

FIG. 1 is a simplified schematic diagram illustrating an exemplary EUVmask structure in accordance with one embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 2 is a simplified schematic diagram illustrating a cross sectionalview providing details of the multilayer stack in accordance with oneembodiment of the invention.

FIG. 3 is a simplified schematic diagram illustrating a cross-sectionalview of a single repeated pattern of the multilayer stack in accordancewith one embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 4 is a simplified schematic diagram illustrating an overview of theHigh-Productivity Combinatorial (HPC) screening process for use inevaluating materials, unit processes, and process sequences for themanufacturing of semiconductor devices in accordance with one embodimentof the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The embodiments described herein provide a method and apparatus relatedto an EUV photomask for lithography processes. It will be obvious,however, to one skilled in the art, that the present invention may bepracticed without some or all of these specific details. In otherinstances, well known process operations have not been described indetail in order not to unnecessarily obscure the present invention.

The embodiments described herein provide for an extreme ultraviolet(EUV) mask that has an extended lifetime and lower defectivity toincrease yields during its useful lifecycle due to the construction ofthe multi-stack layers for the Bragg mirror portion of the mask. In oneembodiment, the stacked layers, which consist of a reflective materialdisposed over a spacer material, have a barrier layer defined at theinterface of the reflective material and the spacer material. Thebarrier layer is transparent to the wavelength of light utilized for theEUV process. Due to the extremely thin nature of the barrier layer,which may be 1 nanometer (nm) or less in thickness, an atomic layerdeposition (ALD) process is utilized to deposit the barrier layer in oneembodiment. With the barrier layer disposed at each interface of thereflective and spacer material, diffusion of oxygen, fluorine, chlorine,undesired metals or any surface organics into the multilayer stack isprevented. In addition, diffusion of the reflective material into thespacer material and vice versa is also prevented. As explained in moredetail below, the barrier layer may consist of two sublayers where thesublayers share a common component. In addition, one sublayer shares acomponent with the reflective layer and the other sublayer shares acomponent with the spacer layer.

The embodiments described herein enable the application of combinatorialtechniques to process sequence integration in order to arrive at aglobally optimal sequence of the manufacturing operations by consideringinteraction effects between the unit manufacturing operations, theprocess conditions used to effect such unit manufacturing operations, aswell as materials characteristics of components utilized within the unitmanufacturing operations. These combinatorial aspects are extended toevaluating the best candidates for barrier layers deposited between thereflective and spacer layers of a Bragg mirror in an EUV mask andoptimize film thickness and optical properties. Rather than onlyconsidering a series of local optimums, i.e., where the best conditionsand materials for each manufacturing unit operation is considered inisolation, the embodiments described below consider interactions effectsintroduced due to the multitude of processing operations that areperformed and the order in which such multitude of processing operationsare performed when fabricating a semiconductor device. A global optimumsequence order is therefore derived and as part of this derivation, theunit processes, unit process parameters and materials used in the unitprocess operations of the optimum sequence order are also considered.

The embodiments described further below analyze a portion or sub-set ofthe overall process sequence used to manufacture a semiconductor device.Once the subset of the process sequence is identified for analysis,combinatorial process sequence integration testing is performed tooptimize the materials, unit processes and process sequence used tobuild that portion of the device or structure. During the processing ofsome embodiments described herein, structures are formed on theprocessed semiconductor substrate that are equivalent to the structuresformed during actual production of the semiconductor device. Forexample, such structures may include, but would not be limited to,trenches, vias, interconnect lines, capping layers, masking layers,diodes, memory elements, gate stacks, transistors, or any other seriesof layers or unit processes that create an intermediate structure foundon semiconductor chips. While the combinatorial processing variescertain materials, unit processes, or process sequences, the compositionor thickness of the layers or structures or the action of the unitprocess, such as cleaning, surface preparation, etch, deposition,planarization, implantation, surface treatment, etc. is substantiallyuniform through each discrete region. Furthermore, while differentmaterials or unit processes may be used for corresponding layers orsteps in the formation of a structure in different regions of thesubstrate during the combinatorial processing, the application of eachlayer or use of a given unit process is substantially consistent oruniform throughout the different regions in which it is intentionallyapplied. Thus, the processing is uniform within a region (inter-regionuniformity) and between regions (intra-region uniformity), as desired.It should be noted that the process can be varied between regions, forexample, where a thickness of a layer is varied or a material may bevaried between the regions, etc., as desired by the design of theexperiment.

The result is a series of regions on the substrate that containstructures or unit process sequences that have been uniformly appliedwithin that region and, as applicable, across different regions. Thisprocess uniformity allows comparison of the properties within and acrossthe different regions such that the variations in test results are dueto the varied parameter (e.g., materials, unit processes, unit processparameters, or process sequences) and not the lack of processuniformity.

FIG. 1 is a simplified schematic diagram illustrating an exemplary EUVmask structure in accordance with one embodiment of the invention. Mask100 is composed of a number of different layers and materials stackedupon each other. At a bottom layer, a hard conductive coating 102 issupplied. In one embodiment the conductive coating is a chromium nitridelayer that enables chucking for processing in a semiconductor tool.Disposed over layer 102 is low thermal expansion material (LTEM) 104.LTEM 104 may be a glass or silica composition and functions as a holderfor the upper layers. Underlayer 106 is deposited above layer 104 andfunctions as a transitional layer between layer 104 and the multilayerstack 108. Multilayer stack 108 provides alternating pairs of reflectivematerial and spacer material layers. In one embodiment the reflectivematerial is molybdenum and the spacer material is silicon. Any suitablenumber of alternating pairs may be utilized for the multilayer stack,e.g., 40 or more pairs can be used in one embodiment. However, thisexemplary number of pairs is not meant to be limiting as more or lesspairs that achieve the desired reflectance can be utilized. It should beappreciated that other material may be incorporated into the materialstack as long as the functionality provided by the multilayer stack,i.e., the Bragg mirror functionality, is maintained. Disposed betweeneach reflective layer and spacer layer is a thin diffusion barrierlayer, the details of which are described in more detail below. Thus,the multilayer stack 108 consists of a repeating pattern of these threelayers in the embodiments described herein. Capping layer 110 isdisposed over a top surface of the multilayer stack 108. Capping layer110 is transparent to the extreme ultraviolet light, i.e., a wavelengthbetween about 10 and 20 nanometers, and may be composed of ruthenium ortantalum or an alloy of ruthenium or tantalum, in one embodiment.Disposed over capping layer 110 is buffer layer 112 and absorber layer114. As illustrated in FIG. 1 absorber layer 114 and buffer layer 112are patterned in order to achieve the desired reflectance for mask 100.One skilled in the art will appreciate that buffer layer 112 is appliedas a transitional layer in order to link the absorber layer 114 andcapping layer 110. In addition, absorber layer 114 will absorb theultraviolet light, while the gaps defined by the patterning of absorberlayer 114 allows the ultraviolet light to pass through into themultilayer stack to be reflected therefrom. It should be appreciatedthat the illustration provided for FIG. 1 is an exemplary structure foran EUV mask. That is, other EUV masks may include additional layers oreliminate certain layers depicted in the exemplary illustration of FIG.1.

FIG. 2 is a simplified schematic diagram illustrating a cross sectionalview providing details of the multilayer stack in accordance with oneembodiment of the invention. As illustrated the multilayer stackconsists of alternating pairs of molybdenum layers 108 a and siliconlayers 108 b, having diffusion barriers 108 c disposed there between.One skilled in the art will appreciate that molybdenum layers 108 afunction as reflective layers and silicon layers 108 b function asspacers which are transparent to the wavelength of the light beingreflected by the reflective layers. The thickness of the spacer andreflective layers 108 b and 108 c, is on the order of about 5 nm in oneembodiment. The thickness of the diffusion barrier 108 c is on the orderof about 2 nm or less in one embodiment. Thus, the reflective and spacerlayers may be deposited through a physical vapor deposition, chemicalvapor deposition, sputtering or some other conventional depositionprocess, whereas with respect to diffusion barrier 108 c, an atomiclayer deposition is utilized due to the thin layer required in thisembodiment. Thus, in this embodiment, a tiered deposition is providedwith the barrier layer utilizing an ALD process and the remaining layersof the multilayer stack utilizing a different deposition process.Barrier layer 108 c is relatively thin (2 nm or less) and opticallytransparent. In addition barrier layer 108 c is a closed film that actsas a barrier for chemical elements passing therethrough at thetemperature range of interest. The temperature range of interestincludes the operating temperature for the lithography process,typically 50° C. and the wet cleaning temperature for the mask which maybe as high as 80° C. and above. Several materials can be utilized forthe barrier layer which are compatible with ALD deposition, includingcarbides, nitrides, and borides, e.g. silicon carbide (SiC), siliconnitride (SiN), silicon boride (SiB), molybdenum nitride (MoN), titaniumnitride (TiN), etc.

FIG. 3 is a simplified schematic diagram illustrating a cross-sectionalview of a single repeated pattern of the multilayer stack in accordancewith one embodiment of the invention. Spacer layer 108 b is disposedover Barrier layer 108 a, which is disposed over reflective layer 108 c.As mentioned above, in one embodiment of spacer layer 108 b is composedof silicon and reflective layer 108 a is composed of molybdenum. In thisembodiment barrier layer 108 c is composed of two sublayers 108 c-2 and108 c-1. It should be appreciated that through the use of atomic layerdeposition, a thin layer of molybdenum nitride may be deposited assublayer 108 c-1 and another thin layer of silicon nitride may bedeposited as layer 108 c-2. In this embodiment sublayer 108 c-1 shares acomponent of reflective layer 108 a, i.e., the reflective material whichmay be Mo, and sublayer 108 c-1 shares a component of sublayer 108 c-2,i.e., nitrogen, carbon, or boron, when the barrier layer is one of anitride, carbide, or boride, respectively.

FIG. 4 is a simplified schematic diagram illustrating an overview of theHigh-Productivity Combinatorial (HPC) screening process for use inevaluating materials, unit processes, and process sequences for themanufacturing of semiconductor devices in accordance with one embodimentof the invention. As illustrated in FIG. 4, primary screeningincorporates and focuses on materials discovery. Here, the materials maybe screened for certain properties in order to select possiblecandidates for a next level of screening. In the initial primaryscreening there may be thousands of candidates which are subsequentlyreduced to hundreds of candidates. These hundreds of candidates can thenbe used or advanced to secondary screening processes which will look atmaterials and unit processes development. In the secondary screeninglevel, process integration may be additionally considered to narrow thecandidates from hundreds of candidates to tens of candidates.Thereafter, tertiary screening further narrows these candidates throughprocess integration and device qualification in order to identify somebest possible optimizations in terms of materials, unit processes andprocess sequence integration.

In one embodiment, the primary and secondary testing may occur on acoupon, while the tertiary testing is performed on a production sizewafer. Through this multi-level screening process, the best possiblecandidates have been identified from many thousands of options. The timerequired to perform this type of screening will vary, however, theefficiencies gained through the HPC methods provide a much fasterdevelopment system than any conventional technique or scheme. Whilethese stages are defined as primary second and tertiary, these arearbitrary labels placed on these steps. Furthermore, primary screeningis not necessarily limited to materials research and can be focused onunit processes or process sequences, but generally involves a simplersubstrate, less steps and quicker testing than the later screeninglevels. With regard to the photomask described herein, the primarytesting may involve experimentation on a coupon or substrate withmultiple layers being disposed over the coupon or substrate and with thebarrier diffusion layers in between the reflective or spacer layers. Theresulting substrate and stack may then be repeatedly heated up andchecked for diffusion/thermal stability properties. Thereafter,secondary screening may take the most promising candidates from theprimary screening and perform further experiments. In one embodiment theexperiments for the secondary screening may include blanket depositingof the barrier material selected from the primary screening onto acoupon or substrate and evaluating that material for optical properties,e.g., reflectance. From the selected candidates of the secondaryscreening a tertiary screening can be performed where the EUV mask ismanufactured and utilized to define a resist pattern, which is thendeveloped and evaluated. The mask can be used multiple times and cleanedmultiple times to provide data on the robustness and longevity of themask.

The stages also may overlap and there may be feedback from the secondaryto the primary, and the tertiary to the secondary and/or the primary tofurther optimize the selection of materials, unit processes and processsequences. In this manner, the secondary screening begins while primaryscreening is still being completed, and/or while additional primaryscreening candidates are generated, and tertiary screening can beginonce a reasonable set of options are identified from the secondaryscreening. Thus, the screening operations can be pipelined in oneembodiment. As a general matter and as discussed elsewhere in moredetail, the level of sophistication of the structures, processsequences, and testing increases with each level of screening.Furthermore, once the set of materials, unit processes and processsequences are identified through tertiary screening, they must beintegrated into the overall manufacturing process and qualified forproduction, which can be viewed as quaternary screening or productionqualification. In one more level of abstraction, a wafer can be pulledfrom the production process, combinatorially processed, and returned tothe production process under tertiary and/or quaternary screening.

In the various screening levels, the process tools may be the same ormay be different. For example, in dry processing the primary screeningtool may be a combinatorial sputtering tool available described, forexample, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,985,356. This tool is efficient at preparingmulti-material samples in regions for simple materials propertiesanalysis. For secondary and/or tertiary screening technique, a modifiedcluster tool may be retrofitted with a combinatorial chamber. As anotherexample, in wet processing, the primary and secondary screening can beimplemented in a combinatorial tool. The main differences here are notthe capabilities of the tools, but the substrates used, the processvariations or structures created and the testing done. For the tertiarytool, a wet reactor with combinatorial and non-combinatorial chambersdescribed in U.S. application Ser. No. 11/647,881 filed Dec. 29, 2006,could be used for integrated and more sophisticated processing andanalysis.

In the development or screening cycle, typically there are manymaterials synthesized or processed involving large permutations of aplurality of materials, a plurality of processes, a plurality ofprocessing conditions, a plurality of material application sequences, aplurality of process integration sequences, and combinations thereof.Testing of these many materials may use a simple test, such as adhesionor resistivity and may involve a blanket wafer (or coupon) or one withbasic test structures to enable testing for one or more desiredproperties of each material or unit process. Once the successfulmaterials or unit processes have been selected, combinatorial techniquesare applied to analyze these materials or processes within a largerpicture. That is, the combinatorial techniques determine whether theselected materials or unit processes meet more stringent requirementsduring second stage testing. The processing and testing during thesecond stage may be more complex, e.g., using a patterned wafer orcoupon, with more test structures, larger regions, more variations, moresophisticated testing, etc. For example, the structure defined by thematerial and unit process sequence can be tested for properties relatedor derived from the structure to be integrated into the commercialproduct.

This iterative process may continue with larger and more complex testcircuits being used for testing different parameters. This approachserves to increase the productivity of the combinatorial screeningprocess by maximizing the effective use of the substrate real estate,and optimizing the corresponding reactor and test circuit design withthe level of sophistication required to answer the level of questionsnecessary per stage of screening. Complex reactors and/or test circuitdesigns are utilized at later stages of screening when desiredproperties of the materials, processing conditions, process sequence,etc. are substantially known and/or have been refined via prior stagesof screening.

The subsections of test structures generated from previous testing forsome screening levels may be incorporated into subsequent, more complexscreening levels in order to further evaluate the effectiveness ofprocess sequence integrations and to provide a check and correlationvehicle to the previous screen. It should be appreciated that thisability allows a developer to see how results of the subsequent processdiffered from the results of the previous process, i.e., take intoaccount process interactions. In one example, materials compatibilitymay be used as a primary test vehicle in primary screening, thenspecific structures incorporating those materials (carried forward fromthe primary screen) are used for the secondary screening. As mentionedherein, the results of the secondary screening may be fed back into theprimary screening also. Then, the number and variety of test structuresis increased in tertiary screening along with the types of testing, forexample, electrical testing may be added or device characterization maybe tested to determine whether certain critical parameters are met. Ofcourse, electrical testing is not reserved for tertiary testing aselectrical testing may be performed at other screening stages. Thecritical parameters generally focus on the requirements necessary tointegrate the structures created from the materials and process sequenceinto the commercial product, e.g., a die.

In summary, the embodiments described above provide for a robust EUVmask that has a prolonged lifecycle. The barrier layers, depositedthrough an ALD process, protect the multilayer stack from diffusion ofmaterial and chemical reactions that may be encouraged when the mask isat an elevated temperature from ambient conditions, hence loweringdefects which in turn will increase yields and extend the usefullifecycle of the mask. While exemplary barrier layers have been listedabove, the embodiments are not limited to those compounds as anysuitable compound that can be deposited as a thin layer through an ALDprocess, e.g., 2 nm or less; is transparent to the desired wavelength oflight, e.g. 10-20 nm; acts as a barrier to chemical elements passingtherethrough at the temperature range of interest; and results in aclosed film; may be utilized for the barrier layer.

The above examples are provided for illustrative purposes and not meantto be limiting. The embodiments described herein may be applied to anyprocess sequence to optimize the process sequence, as well as thematerials, processes, and processing conditions utilized in themanufacture of a semiconductor device where there exist multiple optionsfor the materials, processes, processing conditions, and processsequences.

The present invention provides greatly improved methods and apparatusfor the differential processing of regions on a single substrate. It isto be understood that the above description is intended to beillustrative and not restrictive. Many embodiments and variations of theinvention will become apparent to those of skill in the art upon reviewof this disclosure. Merely by way of example a wide variety of processtimes, process temperatures and other process conditions may beutilized, as well as a different ordering of certain processing steps.The scope of the invention should, therefore, be determined not withreference to the above description, but instead should be determinedwith reference to the appended claims along with the full scope ofequivalents to which such claims are entitled.

The explanations and illustrations presented herein are intended toacquaint others skilled in the art with the invention, its principles,and its practical application. Those skilled in the art may adapt andapply the invention in its numerous forms, as may be best suited to therequirements of a particular use. Accordingly, the specific embodimentsof the present invention as set forth are not intended as beingexhaustive or limiting of the invention.

The embodiments described above provide methods and apparatus for theparallel or rapid serial synthesis, processing and analysis of novelmaterials having useful properties identified for semiconductormanufacturing processes. Any materials found to possess usefulproperties can then subsequently be prepared on a larger scale andevaluated in actual processing conditions. These materials can beevaluated along with reaction or processing parameters through themethods described above. In turn, the feedback from the varying of theparameters provides for process optimization. Some reaction parameterswhich can be varied include, but are not limited to, process materialamounts, reactant species, processing temperatures, processing times,processing pressures, processing flow rates, processing powers,processing reagent compositions, the rates at which the reactions arequenched, atmospheres in which the processes are conducted, an order inwhich materials are deposited, etc. In addition, the methods describedabove enable the processing and testing of more than one material, morethan one processing condition, more than one sequence of processingconditions, more than one process sequence integration flow, andcombinations thereof, on a single substrate without the need ofconsuming multiple substrates per material, processing condition,sequence of operations and processes or any of the combinations thereof.This greatly improves the speed as well as reduces the costs associatedwith the discovery and optimization of semiconductor manufacturingoperations.

Moreover, the embodiments described herein are directed towardsdelivering precise amounts of material under precise processingconditions at specific locations of a substrate in order to simulateconventional manufacturing processing operations. As mentioned above,within a region the process conditions are substantially uniform, incontrast to gradient processing techniques which rely on the inherentnon-uniformity of the material deposition. That is, the embodiments,described herein locally perform the processing in a conventionalmanner, e.g., substantially consistent and substantially uniform, whileglobally over the substrate, the materials, processes and processsequences may vary. It should be noted that the discrete steps ofuniform processing is enabled through the HPC systems described herein.

Any of the operations described herein that form part of the inventionare useful machine operations. The invention also relates to a device oran apparatus for performing these operations. The apparatus can bespecially constructed for the required purpose, or the apparatus can bea general-purpose computer selectively activated or configured by acomputer program stored in the computer. In particular, variousgeneral-purpose machines can be used with computer programs written inaccordance with the teachings herein, or it may be more convenient toconstruct a more specialized apparatus to perform the requiredoperations.

Although the foregoing invention has been described in some detail forpurposes of clarity of understanding, it will be apparent that certainchanges and modifications can be practiced within the scope of theappended claims. Accordingly, the present embodiments are to beconsidered as illustrative and not restrictive, and the invention is notto be limited to the details given herein, but may be modified withinthe scope and equivalents of the appended claims. In the claims,elements and/or steps do not imply any particular order of operation,unless explicitly stated in the claims.

1. A photomask, comprising: a substrate; a multi-layer stack functioningas a Bragg mirror disposed over the substrate, the multilayer stackhaving alternating first second and third layers disposed over eachother, wherein the first, second and third layers are composed of first,second and third materials, respectively, and wherein at least thesecond layer is formed through an atomic layer deposition process; acapping layer disposed over the multilayer stack; and an absorber layerdisposed over the capping layer.
 2. The photomask of claim 1, whereinthe first material is molybdenum, the second material is silicon, andthe third material is a compound selected from the group consisting of anitride, a carbide, and a boride.
 3. The photomask of claim 1 whereinthe photomask is an extreme ultraviolet light (EUV) photomask andwherein the first and the third layers are formed through physical vapordeposition process.
 4. The photomask of claim 1, further comprising: abuffer layer disposed between the capping layer and the absorber layer.5. The photomask of claim 1, wherein the buffer layer and the absorberlayer are patterned with discontinuities.
 6. The photomask of claim 1,wherein the second layer of the multilayer stack is composed of twolayers, each of the two layers having a first component in common witheach other and a second component in common with one of the first or thethird layers.
 7. The photomask of claim 6, wherein the first componentis selected from a group consisting of nitrogen, carbon, and boron andwherein the second component is one of silicon or molybdenum.
 8. Anextreme ultraviolet (EUV) mask, comprising; a substrate; a multi-layerstack functioning as a Bragg reflector disposed over the substrate, themultilayer stack having a repeating pattern of first second and thirdlayers disposed over each other, wherein the first, second and thirdlayers are composed of first, second and third materials, respectively,the second layer being deposited through an atomic layer deposition, thesecond layer being transparent to wavelength of light between about 10nm and 20 nm and functioning as a diffusion barrier to the first andthird materials; a capping layer disposed over the multilayer stack; anda patterned absorber layer disposed over the capping layer, thepatterned absorber layer absorbing the wavelength of light between about11 nm and 14 nm.
 9. The mask of claim 8, wherein the second layerincludes one of the first or third materials.
 10. The mask of claim 8,wherein the first material is silicon, the second material ismolybdenum, and the third material is one of silicon nitride ormolybdenum nitride.
 11. The mask of claim 8, wherein the second layerhas two sublayers, a first sublayer disposed over the first layer andcomposed of the first material and a fourth material, the secondsublayer disposed over the first sublayer and composed of the secondmaterial and the fourth material.
 12. The mask of claim 11, wherein thefourth material is selected from the group consisting of a nitride, acarbide, and a boride.
 13. The mask of claim 8, wherein a thickness ofthe second layer is about 2 nm.
 14. The mask of claim 8, wherein athickness of the second layer is less than a thickness of either thefirst layer and the third layer.
 15. A method for evaluating materials,unit processes, and process sequences for manufacturing a photomask,comprising: processing a first substrate having a repeating pattern ofmultiple layers representing a Bragg mirror portion of the photomask;testing the first substrate for diffusion properties between themultiple layers; processing regions on a second substrate in acombinatorial manner by varying one of materials, unit processes orprocess sequences based on results from the testing of the firstsubstrate, the regions on the second substrate represent a barrier layerdeposited over one of the multiple layers; and testing the processedregions on the second substrate for optical properties.
 16. The methodof claim 15, further comprising: processing a third substrate utilizingthe photomask, wherein the photomask is manufactured based on resultsfrom the testing of the first and the second substrates.
 17. The methodof claim 15, wherein the testing of the first substrate includesrepeatedly heating the first substrate.
 18. The method of claim 17,wherein the repeating pattern of multiple layers includes a spacermaterial disposed over the barrier layer, which is disposed over areflective material
 19. The method of claim 18, wherein the spacermaterial is silicon, the reflective material is molybdenum, and thebarrier layer is selected from the group consisting of a nitride, acarbide and a boride.
 20. The method of claim 19, where the opticalproperties include reflectance.